Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions: Key information and first quarter discussion

We’ve almost made it to kickoff at Ford Field between the Detroit Lions and your Minnesota Vikings in Week 13 NFL action. The Vikings are looking to get back to .500 with a win here and the Lions. . .well, the Lions are still looking for their first win and would love to get it at Minnesota’s expense.

Here’s everything you need to know about today’s game.

Date and Time: Sunday, 5 December 2021, noon Central time

Location: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

Television Coverage: WCCO-4 in the Twin Cities, CBS affiliates around the country, DirecTV Channel 705

Radio Coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 111, XM Channel 385, SiriusXM App Channel 820

Line: Vikings -7, Over/Under 46.5

Chris’ Prediction: Vikings 27, Lions 23

Three Keys

1) Continue the aggression on offense - The Lions are one of the worst defenses in the NFL by just about every statistical measure. . .which makes it sort of embarrassing that the Vikings only managed to put up 19 the last time these two teams got together. The Vikings’ offense has been much more aggressive over the past few weeks, and they need to continue that against a bad Lions’ defense today.

2) Be disciplined on defense - The Vikings come into this one without a couple of key pieces on defense in Eric Kendricks (out with an injury) and Patrick Peterson (still on the COVID list). They might be relying on some guys that don’t get a lot of run, but they need to do their best to stay disciplined and not commit dumb penalties that give the Lions extra opportunities.

3) Win on special teams - When you have two teams that are on different levels, special teams can play a huge role. The Vikings have gotten huge contributions from rookie Kene Nwangwu since he has been active, and Jordan Berry might be having the best season of his career. The Vikings can’t afford to have mistakes on special teams, because those usually lead to the kind of short fields a team like Detroit could take advantage of.

Know the Foe: Pride of Detroit

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That’s all of the key information you should need going into this one, folks. I know we’re all hoping that the Vikings don’t manage to somehow. . .well, Viking. . .and give the Lions a notch in the W column in this one. Hopefully in about three hours or so, we’ll all be able to breathe a big sigh of relief.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!